Improvement in constructing cannon



0. PERLEY.

Muzzle-Loading Ordnance.

' Patented May 5, 1863.

FFICEQ CHARLES PERLEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTING' CANNON.

Specificationforming part of Letters Patent No. 3%,4109, dated May 5. 1863.

T0 aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES PERLEY, of the city and State of New York, have invented and made a certain new and useful Improvement in Cannon; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making partof this specification, wherein Figure 1 is a plan of my cannon. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 3 is a crosssection of the same.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.

Gannon have'heretofore been made of sections placed together and held by means of bands or hoops shrunk on, and these bands or hoops have also been employed with acast metal barrel, to strengthen the same at the breech. These all, however, formed a gun that could not be taken apart for transportation. The heavy siege-pieces employed for the reduction of fortifications are generally very large and inconvenient to handle, and their very size renders them liable to burst, when fired, much more in proportion than smaller pieces. This .arises from the injury to the texture of the metal in consequence of shrinkage as the cooling of the cast metal progresses. Cannon have been also made in sections with movable rings.

The nature of my said invention consists in abarrel fitted with a double taper on its exterior, combined with a tapering ring and a cap or section inclosing the breech, said parts being screwed or bolted together, as hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings, a is a barrel, of steel or other suitable metal, and formed of the desired size. If for a large gun, this barrel should be divided lengthwise into two or more sections, so that each section will be a convenient size for handling. I have shown this barrel as divided into two such sections. This barrel is to be made comparatively thin, and the exterior tapers both ways from a point about midway between the trunnions and the touch-hole. In order to sustain this barrel against the force of the explosion, I fit to the turned surface thereof a series of wroughtmetal rings or bands, I have shown but three such bands; but their number may be in creased, as desired, and extend over the entire surface of the gun, or be principally applied at the breech part. The section b is made to include the 'breech part of the gun, and is to be accurately bored to fit the exterior of the barrel.

c is the section or ring carrying the trunnions d, and is slid on from the muzzle end, and the sections 1) and c are united by the screws f.

g is the touch-hole, bored through the sec tion b and barrel a after the parts have been fitted to each other. The end of the muzzleis shown as fitted with a section, h, screwed on. The space between '0 and h may be provided with several sections fitted to the taper of the outside of the gun, and held in place by this section or ring h. The thickness of these rings must depend on the strength required at the particular part.

By having the barrel a of iron or steel, and the rings of gun-metal, the expansion of the rings will be as great under the less heat to which they will be exposed in firing as the barrel under the greater heat to which it will be exposed, hence no undue strain will come on any part.

My cannon is of that character that it can be disconnected and moved from place to place in detail, and then put together with ease, as required. At the same time the parts, being fitted together while cold, only take their proper strain due to the explosion, and are notrendered weak by unequal contraction in cooling from a melting or welding heat.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is

The barrel a, with the exterior surface tapering both ways, in combination with the ring 0 and breech-cap b, drawn together by screw-bolts or their equivalents, as and for the purposes specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature this 31st day of May, 1862.

CHARLES PERLEY. Witnesses:

LnMUnL W. SERRELL, Tnos. Gno. HAROLD. 

